Success of Joint Force Sahel depends on local actor engagement

Officially launched on 2 July 2017, the 5,000-strong Joint Force deployed by the regional organization G5 Sahel (JF-G5S), is the latest addition to the four multilateral peace missions and one French counter-terrorism operation that are currently present in Mali. The mandate of the Joint Force by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger is to “combat terrorism, drug trafficking and human trafficking”. Strongly supported by France in the hope that the JF-G5S will lay the base for an exit strategy for its 4,000 military personnel in operation Barkhane, the new force is going to complement the 12,000 personnel of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Recent SIPRI research on the perceptions of insecurity by Malian civil society actors highlights that it takes more than a new military operation to tackle the country’s complex security problems. The quality of the relationship between local communities and their national armed forces is reported as essential for sustainable peace consolidation. SIPRI studies also confirm that peace operations in Africa are currently too top-down and often insufficiently connected to the end-users of peace: the local population. In Mali’s case, the lack of an inclusive dialogue is causing the civil-military relation to gradually deteriorate.

As security priorities in the North, Centre and South of the country are not uniform and highly volatile, strategies have to be contextualised and harmonized with local community security initiatives to ensure they answer to local dynamics, priorities and demands. Given their profound knowledge of circumstances on the ground, local involvement is required to contribute to tailor-made security responses.

The security – development nexus

According to SIPRI research, perceptions of insecurity in Mali are closely related to economic and developmental issues. Employment opportunities (or the lack thereof) figure at the top of perceived security risks in north and central Mali. An overly security-focused approach to combat terrorism and crime without providing development is therefore likely to be short term or even counterproductive.

Before the new Force starts to crack down on terrorism and crime, these notions should be unpacked and understood in their local context. Historically an international crossroads for trade, cross-border economies are the main sources of income in the region. In this regard, it is important to note that what outsiders would perceive as a ‘criminal act’ often enjoys social legitimacy. The fight against organised crime, without understanding of the local socioeconomic environment and providing alternative livelihood opportunities, can fuel existing competition over control of trafficking routes. Moreover, the closing down of one human smuggling route often leads to the opening of other itineraries.

Sustainable answers to insecurity problems are ultimately political in nature and Mali’slack of good governance is a major hindrance to sustainable peacebuilding. Due to the high extent of state complicity and the low level of state legitimacy in Mali, a state-centric law enforcement intervention by the JF-G5S runs the risk of reinforcing malign structures, rather than the reverse.

Civil society for a people-centred approach

France and the G5 announced ambitious plans for the JF-G5S: a control post should be installed in Sévaré (near Mopti) before the end of August, a donor conference is planned in Berlin in September and the force should be operational in October 2017.

Consequently, now is the time for the JF-G5S to maximize chances of success to patch up its weaknesses. To this end, in spite of the challenges, embracing local (civil society) actors is a prerequisite for the building of a culture of lawfulness, drug harm reduction and social cohesion, and should be a sine qua non for the new force’s deployment. Additionally, the JF-G5S requires a strong civilian component that focuses on development and governance through a bottom-up strategy promoting economic progress, alternative livelihoods, democratic civilian oversight, transparency and accountability.

SIPRI

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources.